If we likened Indonesia and Australia’s relationship to a marriage, it would be one that needed both sides to pay attention at all times to keep it working.
However, this is precisely what neither side has been doing. It would not even be a marriage where both parties took each other for granted, but one where neither knew the other very well. Lucky, then, it is not a marriage.
The 2006 Poll by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, provided an apt illustration. Continuums of 1 to 10 indicated that more than half of the Australians surveyed believed Indonesia was essentially controlled by the military and was a dangerous source of Islamic terrorism, and that Australia was right to worry about Indonesia as a military threat.
On the other hand, more than half of the Indonesian respondents suspected Australia was trying to separate West Papua from Indonesia, that it had a tendency to try to interfere in Indonesian affairs, and that it was debatable whether Indonesia benefited from having Australia as a stable and prosperous neighbor.
Is there any wonder that in terms of feelings toward each other, on a scale from 1 to 100, they both hovered around 50. And, three years later, the 2009 Poll by the same body, shows the warmth toward Indonesia has slightly dropped, to 49.
Despite the official rhetoric about us being closest neighbors, there should be easy camaraderie between Indonesia and Australia as well. The main source of information about one another is the headlines in the mass media, which unfortunately are given to the occasional flare-up — and that is when most people take notice. The rest of the time both get back to business where, when they look out, they turn mainly toward Europe (UK for Australia) and the US, and more recently, Japan and China.
For generations these countries have been embedded in people’s subliminal consciousness, because children learn about them at school. Indonesia and Australia have hardly featured in each other’s school curricula, so easy camaraderie seems a long way off.
Spare a few moments to read the following email exchanges:
Australian student: “Do you have to walk a long way to get water?”
Indonesian student: “err… what kind of question is that??...”
Australian student: “How many houses are there in an average village and describe them?”
Indonesian student: “I don’t live in a village, so I don’t know…”
Indonesian student: “May I ask a question? You know I wear a veil as a Muslim, but I’m just afraid if I were there people would think that I’m a terrorist or something. Is there any girls who wear the veil in Australia?”
Fortunately indeed, thanks to the Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE Project, email communication as quoted above, and much, much more, is taking place.
Sponsored by The Myer Foundation in Australia and AusAID (through the Australia Indonesia Institute) and managed by The Asia Education Foundation, the project, founded in 2008, has taken steps toward breaking the impasse in Australia-Indonesia relations. Today, 93 schools in Australia and Indonesia are continuously communicating, involving 184 teachers directly, and 1,000 indirectly. Cooperation is taking place at various levels, and includes teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-student, and student-to-student communication.
BRIDGE has established a bilingual website, developing among others, 20 online collaborative and technology training activities to support classroom-to-classroom engagement, 45 online workspaces and 60 online collaborative activities across various learning areas.
One of the highlights of the partnerships is the visits of teachers from Indonesia — including those from remote and disadvantaged schools — to Australia, which are organized regularly. For three weeks they work with their Australian counterparts, visiting schools and other significant places in Australia.
The 32 teachers from Indonesia who are currently in Australia working closely with 32 Australian colleagues have expressed how inspired they are by the way Australian students interact with their teachers in and outside class.
“They are encouraged to explore and ask questions. Our [students] are more passive,” said a teacher from a rural South Sumatran school. A teacher from a Jakarta Muslim school, however, said students at her school had always been encouraged to be active learners, yet she was interested to see how different classes in Australia were conducted.
A South Australian headmistress in the group confessed to have learned a great deal about her Indonesian counterparts despite not speaking Indonesian. She observed their body language.
“They are much more polite among themselves and with other people,” she said. The experience has had the effect of sharpening her sensibility: She now notices carelessness that can be construed as racism among Australians.
Just as importantly, BRIDGE has heightened awareness among the participating school students in both countries about each other’s lives and environments. And since it continues throughout the year, and across school levels, the learning occurs subliminally as well as consciously.
The program may not be as immediate or attention-grabbing as television footage or newspaper headlines, but if the BRIDGE Project can be multiplied throughout the two countries, over time, it may help bring Australia and Indonesia’s friendship closer to a reality.
The writer is a journalist and adjunct research associate at the School of Social and Political Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
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